Ezzy Pearson rounds up the latest astronomical accessories
1 Omegon Pro Kolossus mount
Price £520 • Supplier Astroshop.eu • www.astroshop.eu
ADVANCED Large binoculars give amazing views of the night sky, but holding them can be tiring. This parallelogram mount supports larger binoculars, like 20x80s and 25x100s, and its three-part swivel arm with 360˚ rotation means you can move it to observe any area of the sky.
2 Thermos King Food Flask
Price £28 • Supplier Argos • www.argos.co.uk
On long, cold nights at the eyepiece a hot meal can stave off the chill. This 710ml flask can hold enough soup or pasta to last the night, and its wide opening makes it ideal for food. The lid doubles as a bowl.
3 Sky-Watcher SmartPhoto Plus smartphone camera adaptor
Price £24.95 • Supplier Harrison Telescopes • Tel 01322 403407 • www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk
This adaptor transforms your smartphone into an astro camera, by helping you line it up at the eyepiece. The unique clamping system helps to centre the camera in the eyepiece with ease, while the foam-lined jaws will hold your phone securely.
4 Kidz Labs Create A Night Sky
Price £15.99 • Supplier Waterstones • www.waterstones.com
Want to learn about the stars and have a fun, practical project? This kit comes with all the pieces needed to create a globe showing the stars of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. A great STEM activity, it leaves you with a beautiful lighting piece.
5 Celestron USB Cooling Fan for Dobsonian Telescopes
Price £24.99 • Supplier The Widescreen Centre • www.widescreen-centre.co.uk
This fan helps circulate the air around your Dobsonian telescope tube so it can reach ambient temperature, which prevents turbulent air from blurring your image. It can be connected to any USB power source.
6 Beelink GKMini PC
Price £219 • Supplier First Light Optics • www.firstlightoptics.com
This diminutive PC comes with 8GB of memory, a 256GB SSD and four USB ports, all packed into a box just 10cm x 11cm x 4cm in size, making it an ideal choice for controlling your astro imaging setup.